


Scars x Emotions

by icyvanity



Category: Stitchers (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 05:43:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4510032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icyvanity/pseuds/icyvanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.” - Cormac McCarthy<br/>“All your life you’re yellow. Then one day you brush up against something blue, the barest touch, and voila, the rest of your life you’re green.” - Tess Callahan</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scars x Emotions

**Author's Note:**

> For [camsten-love](http://camsten-love.tumblr.com)'s mini writing contest giveaway

“You know, I’ve never really had any lasting scars.”

Cameron looks up from his laptop to see Kirsten hesitating in the doorway. He glances down at his bare chest, the long scar clearly visible down his sternum. Looking back up at her, he catches her eyes for a second before she’s looking up at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, she walks over to the bed and sits down next to him.

“I’ve always wondered why I never had any from the accident that killed my mother,” she lets out a humorless laugh, “But, since it turns out she didn’t die like that, who knows if I was even in the car.”

Cameron’s hand spazzes as he resists the urge to take her hand. He clears his throat, “I know it feels like you’ve always known, but I’m sorry.” Kirsten is silent for a while, and Cameron chances a look at her face; her eyes are closed and tears have traced their way down her cheeks. “Kirsten—” he starts.

“You want to know something funny?” she asks, and Cameron can hear it in her tone how far from funny everything is, “I learned more about my childhood in _one day_ , the specific one day that you almost died in, than I have in my entire life. And all because of you.”

Cameron feels his face contort in confusion, “Wait, it sounds like you learned more than just how you got temporal dysplasia.” Kirsten freezes, and he says, “What happened, Stretch?”

She takes a shuddering breath, “Um. Well, when I stitched into your memory there was one from your childhood mixed in. You were walking around the hospital and you saw a little girl painting her mom’s nails and you comforted her. You told her everything would be alright.”

Cameron shakes his head, “You lost me.”

Kirsten finally meets his eyes, “That little girl was me.”

Cameron’s eyes widen and he tries to speak, but Kirsten cuts him off, standing up and walking to the end of the bed.

“You’ve always been trying to protect me, even when I didn’t know you. Right before your heart stopped, do you remember what you said to me?” She pauses; he shakes his head, “You told me that you had to do it so I would trust you, so that I knew you would do _anything_ to protect me. And then your heart stopped beating.”

“Kirsten,” he says, pushing his glasses up, “you’re scaring me. I’ve never seen you this out of it after a stitch.”

She gives him an incredulous look, moving closer, “Don’t you get it? I’m not out of it. It’s like I had my eyes closed this entire time and _they’re finally open_.”

“What are you talking about, Kirsten?” he asks nervously.

Kirsten closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before saying, “You know how in a stitch, I can see the most emotionally charged memories the clearest?” Cameron nods, and she continues, “I just saw _me_. Over and _over_ again. I saw that I kissed you, for instance.”

He sucks in a breath, “ _Kirsten,_ I—“

Kirsten’s lips twitch into a smile, “But memories have feelings, and _God_ did I feel what you were feeling,” and then her lips are twisted in pain, “and the next thing I know, you’re still dead. And I can feel your feelings for me and _finally_ feel my own in my memories, and for the first time I know that that’s not how it’s always been. I knew you hadn’t always been dead because I _couldn’t_ accept that.”

She’s crying again, and Cameron does reach for her this time. She leans against him, shoulders shaking.

Cameron rubs her back, murmuring, “It’s okay, Stretch. I’m alive. I’m here and I’m alive.”

When Kirsten pulls back, she looks nervous. She says, “I haven’t been able to decipher emotions in myself for most of my life, but experiencing them in the stitches has helped me realize what I’ve felt in the past. And your memories made me realize that I recognized some of the feelings, looking back on my own memories.”

Cameron’s breath catches, but he manages to say, “What are you saying, Kirsten?”

Her lips form that small smile again, and she takes a deep breath, “I don’t have a lot of practice with these things, but I’ve always been brutally honest as I am _sure_ you’ve noticed. So I want you to know that I kind of love you.”

Cameron’s jaw falls open and he just stares at her for a long moment.

“Cameron?” she says, “Say something, please.”

He doesn’t of course. Instead, he cups her face with his hands and kisses her. It’s soft and sweet, but they can both feel the emotion behind it. He pulls back, smile radiant on his face, “I kind of love you too, Stretch.”

They both laugh and Kirsten pulls him in again, knowing full well she’s happy, kissing him.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang out with me on tumblr](http://lady-gryffindor.tumblr.com)


End file.
